Reviews of graphic novels and comic book collections every Tuesday and Thursday.


Please Note: All Amazon prices are current the day of the review. Prices may change without notice.

 
Monkey Food: The Complete "I Was Seven in '75" Collection by Ellen Forney
I'm usually not a big fan of comic strips, but Ellen Forney's Monkey Food: The Complete "I Was Seven in '75" Collection (1999, Fantagraphics, Amazon listing) strip published in alternative newspapers around the country is laugh-out-loud hilarious. Despite being just a bit too young to remember the 70s in detail like Forney does, I related to much of the book.

OK, maybe my parents didn't take me to a nudist camp as a kid. And I never discussed Judy Blume's Forever with my girlfriends. My parents never got busted for possession of marijuana when the babysitter found it in their night table. But much of the rest of it seems familiar to me.

More importantly, Forney has a perfect sense of timing and storytelling. These strips are paced just right to illicit huge laughs. I'm hoping her latest book, I Love Led Zeppelin is equally funny.

Monkey Food: The Complete "I Was Seven in '75" Collection 4 stars (out of 5)
posted by Sean McGurr at 8:00 AM